Rana Rama
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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Mervyn, a sorcerer's apprentice was in one of his practice hours with his mentors. He was about to try a new spell for a better look, but this failed and turned him into a frog. While being in this state, evil warlocks appeared and killed all his mentors. He alone was saved, as he appeared only to be a frog. Now Mervyn is the only one left to take revenge on his attackers, by destroying all the warlocks. 

So he heads off into the dungeons of the warlocks, consisting of 8 levels. He hasn’t lost his magic abilities and can use them to defeat the minions of the warlocks. The warlocks themselves need to be defeated in single fights, by putting together the word "RANARAMA", before his life energy is drained. 

Mervyn can still do magic and possesses spells on a low level, which he can raise during the game. Equipped with this, he dares to go into the dungeons of the attackers – but for this he needs energy, which he uses up but which he can also refill. 

The game RANARAMA reminds a bit of Paradroid (fights with warlocks, lifts, darkening of the level when all warlocks are defeated), but has also Gauntlet elements (exploring the map, nests with monsters). 

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 Design 

There is no scrolling, but the single screens build themselves up during the game and can be entered again and again. New rooms appear fluently. Unfortunately, some enemies cannot be defined clearly, as they are only shown in black (in the original spectrum version they are coloured). Therefore it might happen that you cannot see in all the confusion, how many enemies you are facing. The screen is well-arranged in the playing mode. Except for the main happening you can only see the energy bar. Points and facts about the currently used spells are stored in a separately available screen. One can also concentrate well on the “fight” as this is showed in a separate screen as soon as the player meets a warlock. 

A fast melody is played in the title screen, while during the game appropriate sound effects for jumping, shooting, spells and during the fight are played. 

When a level is finished, the minions that are left, patterns and symbols are displayed in black. Mervyn is then displayed in bright grey and energy crystals stand out in green. 

Unfortunately, there is no highscore list in this game. The currently highest score is displayed on the title screen from time to time. 

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 Course of the game 

 At the start of the game you are placed in the easiest level (blue background) in a randomly chosen room. 
 After that you should explore every room and destroy all minions, monsters and above all the nests. 
 If you meet a warlock, a fight is started. Here you need to puzzle together the word RANARAMA before the energy counter has run out. If you win it, the warlock is defeated and you can pick up the runes. If you lose, you lose your current power spell (or a life). 

 With the collected runes you can cast spells on a higher level. 
 For Mervyn's movements and spells you need energy – the energy that is left is displayed on the right by a yellow bar. If it sinks under a certain level, the frog starts to flash. When the bar is empty the currently used energy spell is used up and the frog explodes. After that you are placed again in a randomly chosen room on the map. 

 To refill the energy, there are energy crystals spread on the map. They are practically drawn towards the frog. 
 Only when you’ve entered a room you see its size and what is in it. From that moment on the room will appear on the overview map. Enemies are only visible when you are in the same room as them. 
 There are altogether 8 levels, whereby the background colours differ (easens the orientation). 
 First level in blue. 	
 The red level. 

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 Spells 

There are four different types of spells: 
 Power Spells – they decide where the magician gets his power from. It is the only spell that can run out. It feeds all other spells – how much they need is shown behind the word "Drain". You lose the current chosen power spell when the energy bar is empty. If the status of the power spell is "Mortal" and all energy is gone, the game will be over. 

 Offence Spells – decides, what weapon is used. 
 Defence Spells – decides, what defence is used. 
 Effect Spells – here you can choose an additional spell, which can be a big help. A good example is the spell "Find", which is there at the beginning. With it you can make the hidden doors appear. 

There are 8 different spells of each type with different levels. At the beginning you start with the weakest spells. Explanations for each type are given in the menu. You only see spells, which you can afford to cast with the runes you carry. 

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Table of all spells, their required runes and their effect:  Spell type 	 Level 	 Name 	 Effect 	 Required runes 
 Power 	 1 - Base Magic 	 Mortal 	 Uses your own life energy. When expired you are doomed. 	 
 Power 	 2 - Mysticism 	 Psychic 	 Second level energy spell. Uses energy of the mind. 	 
 Power 	 3 - Witchcraft 	 Symbyotic 	 Third level energy spell, uses life force of others. 	 
 Power 	 4 - Magecraft 	 Electra 	 Fourth level energy spell, uses electromagnetic force. 	 
 Power 	 5 - Runecraft 	 Elemental 	 Fifth level energy spell. High power from the elements. 	 
 Power 	 6 - Runelore 	 Ley 	 Sixth level energy spell. Syphons power from leylines. 	 
 Power 	 7 - High Magic 	 Entropy 	 Seventh level energy spell. High power from time. 	 
 Power 	 8 - Sorcery 	 Omnipotence 	 Power supreme, enough for all spells. 	 
 Offence 	 1 - Base Magic 	 Lap 	 Better than nothing. 	 
 Offence 	 2 - Mysticism 	 Missile 	 Improved firepower. 	 
 Offence 	 3 - Witchcraft 	 Plasma Bolt 	 Bane of mortals. 	 
 Offence 	 4 - Magecraft 	 Fireball 	 Deadly firepower. 	 
 Offence 	 5 - Runecraft 	 Bullball 	 Electric firepower. 	 
 Offence 	 6 - Runelore 	 Annihilate 	 Extreme firepower. 	 
 Offence 	 7 - High Magic 	 Disintegrate 	 Bane extreme, but uses high power. 	 
 Offence 	 8 - Sorcery 	 Vaporise 	 Magic supreme, if you have the power. 	 
 Defence 	 1 - Base Magic 	 Protect 	 Standard defence. 	 
 Defence 	 2 - Mysticism 	 Shield 	 Reduces hits. 	 
 Defence 	 3 - Witchcraft 	 Wall 	 Better defence against physical attack. 	 
 Defence 	 4 - Magecraft 	 Barrier 	 Muncher of mortals. 	 
 Defence 	 5 - Runecraft 	 Unseen 	 Mortals cannot see you. 	 
 Defence 	 6 - Runelore 	 Electrode 	 Defence against Electrocute. 	 
 Defence 	 7 - High Magic 	 Firebane 	 Defence against Conflegrate. 	 
 Defence 	 8 - Sorcery 	 Charm 	 Defence against black magic. 	 
 Effect 	 1 - Base Magic 	 Find 	 Will cause hidden doors to appear. 	 
 Effect 	 2 - Mysticism 	 See 	 Displays warlocks on map, if room has been explored. 	 
 Effect 	 3 - Witchcraft 	 Jump 	 Transfer through space when in real trouble. 	 
 Effect 	 4 - Magecraft 	 Demon 	 Unleashes an ally. 	 
 Effect 	 5 - Runecraft 	 Foolsbane 	 Will cause mortals blind panic. 	 
 Effect 	 6 - Runelore 	 Electrocute 	 Hits all vulnerable within active room. 	 
 Effect 	 7 - High Magic 	 Conflegrate 	 Red peril to all in range. 	 
 Effect 	 8 - Sorcery 	 Black Magic 	 Most deadly magic. 	 

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 As you can see, you need different runes for the spells of a higher level as for the ones of a lower level. You will get these runes when defeating warlocks of a higher level. 
 But as many runes are needed for several spells, there will always be a shortage. 

 Glyphs  Glyph 	 Name 	 Description 
 	 Glyph of Seeing 	 View map of the current level 
 	 Glyph of Sorcery 	 View currently used spells and use different spell. The overview shows the status of the drain, available runes and the score. By scrolling you can change the currently used spells (depending on available runes). 
 	 Glyph of Power 	 Releases a magic bolt of varying intensity. Disappears after use. 
 	 Glyph of Travel 	 Access to other levels. It may not lead back to where you came from. 

 The map of the level is called up by the eye smybol. 	
 Changing the level by the Glyph of Travel. 

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In the spell menu you can scroll through the choice of spells available.

 Enemies and their points 

Warlocks 
 Defeat wizard with the power of level 1 -4: 500 - 4000 points 
 Defeat necromancer with the power of level 5-8: 4500-8000 points 

Minions 
 Dwarf Warrior – 1st level - 100 points 
 Fire Gollum – 2nd level - 200 points 
 Bisect – 3rd level - 300 points 
 Guardian – 4th level - 400 points 
 Death Serpent – 5th level - 500 points 
 Ghoul – 6th level - 600 points 
 Arachnae – 7th level - 700 points 
 Gargoyle – 8th level - 800 points 

Destroy nests: 500 points 

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 Controls 

in the game
 – Frog jumps into the corresponding direction
 – cast effect spell
 – shoot into the corresponding direction
 while sitting on a glyph – function of the glyph is triggered

P  pause game,  to continue 
 
A simple fight against a low level warlock.

in lift mode (Glpyh of Travel)
 - back (before choosing a direction)
 /  – go to the chosen direction

in map mode (Glpyh of Seeing)
 – leave map

in spell mode (Glyph of Sorcery)
 /  – leave mode
 /  - scroll
 when the desired spelll shows - "buy" spell, the required runes are removed


in fighting mode 
 /  – move the marking
 – swap the highlighted letters

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 Solution 

There is no solution as such, as the warlocks are spread randomly and the runes you get are different at every game. 

Some tips: 
 First do the simple levels. You will recognize them by looking at the minions. If they are hard to shoot you are not prepared yet. 
 If you are unlucky, you get runes with which alone you cannot cast a spell, but you get lots of them. 
 Read the explanations for the spells carefully – “high level” does not always mean “very useful”. 
 Do not attack a warlock when having low energy. You might win the fight easily, but you would still want to be able to pick up the runes afterwards. 

 Try to enter a fight with a warlock when the room is apart from you two empty. 
 First destroy the nests, so no more monsters can form. 
 Monster from the nests approach you and you absorb them – this uses up a lot of energy, therefore try to shoot them. 

 Effect, attack and defence spells of a higher level need more energy. Only buy these spells if you can provide them with energy. 
 When you’ve won a fight, quickly pick up the four red runes. They often scatter in all corners of the room. 
 The runes disappear after a short time, so hurry! 
 As long as the runes are in the room you cannot shoot!


http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Rana_Rama
